Smoking stand



W. J. CAMPBELL SMOKING STAND Oct. 30, 1956 Filed July l5, 1953 United States Patent@ SMOKING STAND William `J. Campbell, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Frank C. Wolff, doing business as Campbell Products Company, Chicago, lll.

Applicationaluly.13,.1953,tSerial-,Nou 367,47 8

31Claims. :,(Cl. 220-205) The present invention `relates Vtoimprovements in smoking stands intended -primarilyfor `use lon` movingvehicles such as railroad cars, and the like.

The primary object of ,the Vinvention is tov provide a stand having a removable refuse container so supported `in the `stand fas to` be vsubstantially vrattle-proof against the normal vibrations of the moving vehicle.

A further object is to providesuch ya stand in which :the refuse :container can beeasily removed andreplaced in the stand for cleaning purposes, and to this vend to provide a removable cover for the stand to hold the container therein and, :at .the sameltime, to seal the opening in said container against smoke leaks.

A further object is to provide novel means for supporting the cover on a stand of this type, such means being .operable to release the cover without the necessity for `dismantling the stand in any way.

Further objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a plan view of a smoking stand embodying a preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the stand of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary'detail of the cover mounting for the stand yof Fig. 1, looking from the right of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, -on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and showing a preferred form of the supporting means for the refuse container; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. l and showing a further detail of the smoking stand.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that my smoking stand comprises, in this embodiment, a base portion supporting a body 11 having an upwardly opening chamber 12 therein. A cover member, here shown in the form of a tray 13, is supported on body 11, through the medium of hinge means 14, for swinging movement, about a substantially horizontal axis, into and out of closing association with the chamber mouth 12. The tray 13 has an aperture 15 near its center and supports valve means 16 for closing said aperture, but is operable to permit access to said body chamber for the depositing of refuse therein. The construction of such valve means forms no part of this invention and will not, therefore, be described in detail.

Substantially opposite hinge 14 is a latch means, referred to generally by the reference numeral 17, for releasably holding cover member 13 in closing association with the body mouth 12. Body 11 is provided with a downwardly facing shoulder 18 spaced slightly below the plane of the body mouth 12', and -with a cam-surface 19 sloping inwardlyand upwardly from shoulder 18 .toward the rim of mouth 12. A bolt 20 is reciprocably supported from the Vunder side of cover 13 for axial movement substantially along a radius of cover 13, and,y as the cover 13 is moved toward its -illustrated position in Fig. 2, the inner end of bolt-20 engages surface 19 and is pushed outwardly. When cover 13 reaches its illustrated position, a coiled spring 21, engaging bolt 20, urges lthe bolt end beneath shoulder 18, therebyholding the cover in its illustrated position. A knob 22 is preferably carried at the outer `end of bolt V20 for purposes of manipulating the bolt to move the inner end out of holding engagement with shoulder`18.

Within chamber 12, and near the lowermost point thereof, is fixed, as by means of the stud and nut 23, a spring member referred to generally by the reference numeral 24. This member preferably comprises a Vplate 25, perforated near its center for reception `on stud ,23, and provided with la plurality 'of radially projecting fingers 26. The distal ends of these fingers are bent out of the plane of plate 25 upward toward the mouth of chamber 12.

A refuse container or bowl 27 is Vseatable within-chamber k12upon the upturned ends of fingers 26. The various parts of the stand are so proportioned lthat when the bowl is so seated in chamber 12 and before the cover 13 is moved to its illustrated position, the rirn of bowl 27 will project 'slightly above the plane of mouth 12. As cover 13 is moved toward its illustrated position, the under side of the cover will engage the rim of the bowl 27, urging the bowl downward against the resistance of fingers 26. When the cover reaches its illustrated position, the rim of bowl 27 will be held tightly seated against :the under side of cover 13 and will be supported entirely upon the ends of the downwardly flexed lingers 26. Thus, a relatively smoke-tight seal is provided between the bowl rim and the under side of cover 13. At the same time, bowl 27 is lrmly gripped between cover 13 and fingers 26 to prevent the bowl from rattling against the inner surface of the body.

On such a smoking stand, it is usually customary to provide some means for holding beverage glasses upon the tray or cover 13 to prevent their upsetting due to normal movements of the moving vehicle. In Figs. l and 5 I have shown a preferred form of such holding means comprising a pedestal 28 ixed to cover 13 by means of bolts 29 and supporting a ring member 30 spaced above and overlying the cover 13. Preferably, the ring member will have an internal groove supporting a rubberoid bumper ring 31 for direct engagement with the beverage container, thereby further reducing undesirable rattles usually present in smoking stands of this type heretofore used.

It is further customary, on such a stand, to provide an annular ledge 32 surrounding the valve means 16 supported on the tray or cover 13, such ledge having a series of radial grooves 33 in the upper surface thereof in which to lay cigarettes. To properly support a cigarette, ledge 32 must not have less than a certain minimum Width. In the present embodiment of my invention, the pedestals 28 are lixed to the upper surface of the ledge 32 and, at these points, it is neither necessary nor practical to provide the cigarette-receiving grooves 33. It is therefore possible to cut away these portions of ledge 32 adjacent the beverage supporting rings 3l), as shown at 34, 35, 36 and 37. In so doing, it becomes possible to place the beverage supporting rings closer to the center of the tray 13, thereby materially decreasing the necessary diameter of the lsaid tray. From a commercial standpoint, this permits a substantial saving in material and the space required for the stand when in use.

I claim as my invention:

1. A smoking stand comprising a chambered body having an upwardly opening mouth, a cover member removably secured on said body to close said mouth, lsaid member having an aperture therethrough for access to said chamber, valve means closing said aperture but operable to permit the passage of refuse through said aperture into said chamber, a bowl located within said chamber with the rim thereof surrounding the aperture in said cover member and engaging the under side of said memb'er to form a relatively smoke-tight seal between said rim and said member, means resiliently engaging said bowl to urge the rim thereof into such sealing engagement with the under side of said cover member, hinge means supporting said cover member on said body for swinging movement into and out of cl-osing association with said mouth, and latch means operable to hold said cover member in such closing association with said mouth.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said body is provided, near the rim of said mouth and substantially opposite said hinge means, with a downwardly facing shoulder spaced slightly below the plane of said mouth, and with a cam surface sloping inwardly and upwardly from said shoulder toward the rim of said mouth, and including a bolt radially supported from said cover member adjacent said shoulder, when said c-over member is in closing associated with said mouth, for axial reciprocation into and out `of latching association with said shoulder, and means resiliently engaging said bolt to urge it into such latching association.

3. The device of claim 2 in which said means resiliently engaging said bowl comprises a plate formed with a plurality of radially extending, resilient lingers, said plate being fixed to said body near the lowermost point in said chamber, the distal ends of said fingers being bent out of the plane of said plate toward the chamber mouth and supporting said bowl with the rim thereof spaced slightly above the rim of said mouth when said cover member is in its open position, said cover member engaging the rim of said bowl to urge it downwardly, against the resistance of said fingers, as said cover member is moved toward closing association with said body mouth.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,237,014 Botty et al. Aug. 14, 1917 1,389,495 Erwin et al. Aug. 30, 1921 1,605,266 Moers Nov. 2, 1926 1,736,295 Von Frankenberg Nov. 19, 1929 1,895,212 Smith Jan. 24, 1933 1,937,084 Janssen Nov. 28, 1933 2,000,920 Campbell May 14, 1935 2,003,895 Martin June 4, 1935 2,019,227 Jasper Oct. 29, 1935 2,108,436 Hardy Feb. 15, 1938 2,315,455 Sale Mar. 30, 1943 2,636,632 Miller Apr. 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 720,875 France Dec. 12, 1931 

